無心為禪宗文獻裏常見之用語，具有非常重要之意義。一般而言，無心有兩種用法，一指修行上無分別計較之實踐工夫，一指修行成果之主體的完全自由。本文將探討無心之理論基礎，包括與無心意義相當之無念，分別從無心與《般若經》之空性的關係、無心與《楞伽經》之超越唯心、無念與《大乘起信論》之關係，三方面分析說明無心之意義及其理論基礎。 禪宗之無心說在取消心之分別執著方面，與經驗生活有密切的關係，道家對此也有相當的體會；但在解脫目的上，禪宗之無心具有獨自完整的理論。如能充分理解其特色，對今日關於主體性問題之研究，應可提供一參考模式。

“Non-mind” (wuxin 無心) is a very important concept often mentioned in Ch’an Buddhism. Generally Speaking, non-mind is used in two ways. One is the state of becoming mindless to the differences between things; the other refers to the ultimate freedom of the mind attained through meditation. This paper tries to explore the theoretical basis of non-mind, including a similar concept─ “no-thought’ (wunian 無念) ─ by comparing various Buddhist scriptures that discuss non-mind and related concepts. From the viewpoint of getting rid of prejudices and incorrect cognition, Ch’an Buddhism’s non-mind is related to ordinary life, and is simi1ar to ideas in Taoist thought. Nevertheless, Ch’an Buddhism has its own unique achievements. If we understand Ch’an Buddhism’s characteristics much better, hopefully, we can provide a good thinking model for further research on the essence of the human mind.